I’m hoping that the Criterion guys have started something because today, we have word that the high-flying mavens behind Warhawk are planning to release a big, beautiful, bountiful update... free of charge. We all know that the Burnout crew has set the bar when it comes to offering great in-game content for the low, low price of nothing, but it’s looking like Warhawk may not be a slouch in that department either.

The goodies are being dropped on us like a 1,000 ton bunker buster, including the ability to upload your own custom soundtrack into the game (doing so will automatically disable the regular Warhawk tunage), and Trophy support for all those who like to play their games for more than the sense of satisfaction in a job well done. You can also retract clan invites as well as tinker with new paint schemes for the planes and insignias (all of which are user submitted), as well as receiving a ceremonial blade if you were a member of the GGL tournament that took place back in July.

There are also a pair of updates aimed at newcomers who will now likely find the game more hospitable as they ease into their role as ace pilots. The first up are training tutorials, which cover all the major aspects of the game and are meant to give those new to Warhawk a fighting chance once they get out there and the missiles start flying. There are four tutorials in total, one for each game mode (infantry, ground vehicles, and aircraft) and a fourth "Flight Practice" mode to get you comfortable with the ship. As an added incentive to actually completing the training, the team is throwing a free Trophy your way for doing so, and that means that even if you never manage another kill you still did at least one thing right.

Further alleviating the stress new gamers might feel, the team is also introducing color-coded "Rookie" servers so you know exactly where to go to play with other pilots who are likely crashing into mountains and still fumbling with the weapon select. Anyone who is eligible for these rooms will see the rookie servers listed in green right on top of the list, making it easy to jump into games with other gamers of a like skill level and prevent the frustration of playing with the general populace for just a bit longer.

I’ve actually yet to jump into the Warhawk universe, and by now I feared it was too late since everyone playing is likely super-amazing. However, with the recent price drop and the promise of training modes, I’ll likely be giving this one a look in the near future. Anyone else out there a Warhawk holdout who was just waiting for the perfect excuse to finally strap in and blast off?